


Calamity Jane and the One-Eyed King

by veleda_k



Category: White Collar
Genre: Flashbacks, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-12
Updated: 2013-10-12
Packaged: 2017-12-29 05:44:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1001702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veleda_k/pseuds/veleda_k
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fowler, Kate, and the only game in town. Spoilers for 2x09.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Calamity Jane and the One-Eyed King

**Author's Note:**

> The One-Eyed King is the King of Diamonds, Calamity Jane is the Queen of Spades, and another name for the six of hearts is Loyalty at the Risk of Death.

It was always counting down to this. Fowler may have fooled himself for a while that getting the music box would give himself his life back, but this was reality crashing in. A man like that--whoever he was--did not just let you go. A man like that did not leave loose ends

He asked what Burke intended to do with him even knowing the answer didn't matter. Burke was very small fish in a very big pond. He thought he was in control. Fowler had been like that once. 

He wondered how long it would take before Burke had all his illusions stripped away. It was only a matter of time before he realized the mess he had gotten himself into, the enormity of it. Would he bail out, cut his losses? Probably not. Burke had that tenacity. He was the type to break instead of bend. And then there was Caffrey. Burke would follow where Caffrey lead. 

Caffrey, who was emotional and too easily swayed; who was too soft to do what needed to be done. He had who he thought was his girlfriend’s killer in his sights, and he had failed to pull the trigger. 

Still, Kate had chosen him. Kate had stuck by him. So maybe somewhere in him was the strength to see this to the end.

***

_Neither of them spoke. Fowler kept one eye on Kate, one eye on the door. Kate was staring at a book but wasn't turning the pages. Her body language was taut, tense; ready to bolt with nowhere to go._

_He didn't want babysitting duty, but he didn't trust another agent with her. She’d smile, giggle, maybe flash a little cleavage, and eventually, when her target’s guard was finally down, she’d strike. Fowler knew all that without being told. And maybe she had read him like he read her, because she didn't try any of that with him. Instead, they sat in silence._

_It’s nothing personal, he would have said, once upon a time. But he was no longer a man who made excuses. And if he guessed right, she had never been a woman who accepted them._

***

It gave him a shot of satisfaction to give Burke Julian Larson’s name. It spoke to the same part of him that had convinced him to go along with Kate’s futile escape plan. The thought of striking back, of going down fighting.

Larson. The implications were staggering. Old doubts rose to the surface and were confirmed. He had not been chosen by coincidence. Larson had undoubtedly pointed to him and said, _this is the man we want_. Larson had had the chance to see his dirtiest, darkest parts. 

Ever since he had first received that video, he had suspected that Linda’s death wasn't just bad luck. Now, he imagined how it must have happened. Larson would have mentioned him to the man behind the curtain. But Larson would also have known that Fowler wouldn't drop everything he had built for himself to go live a life of crime. (He hadn't been dirty, then.) He would have needed motivation. Such as Linda’s death. After that, nothing would have been inconceivable. And he had done exactly as they thought he would. 

Marionettes. They were all goddamn marionettes.

***

_One evening, he watched her play solitaire. Ostensibly, he was guarding her. Closer to the truth was the fact that she was the one person in this whole operation he didn't completely loathe._

_"Have you ever heard of Canada Bill Jones?" she asked, out of nowhere._

_He looked at her. Idle chatter wasn't how they worked. "19th century gambler," he answered._

_She smiled, like he was a child getting an easy question right. "According to hearsay and rumor, a friend of Bill's once came up to him and told him that card game Bill was playing was rigged. Bill replied, 'I know it's crooked, but it's the only game in town.'"_

_"Hearsay and rumor, huh?"_

_If the noise she made had been a little less weary or a shade less dark, it would have been called a laugh. "An acquaintance of mine would say that's the only real truth."_

_He didn't bother responding further. She had made her point. They both knew exactly what kind of game they were playing._

_She was still for several minutes, still holding the same card. He looked at her game. "You've run out of moves," he remarked._

_Her grip on the card tightened, and it twisted until he could see that it was the six of of hearts. "There's always another move," she whispered. He wasn't sure which of them she was trying to convince._

***

Fowler could see Burke was conflicted as he called in two agents to take Fowler for processing. “I could get you protective custody.”

As if that would do anything but delay the inevitable. A man who had OPR around his finger was not going to be deterred by protective custody. Fowler smiled mirthlessly. “Tend to your own house first, Burke, before worrying about me. You appear to be having difficulty controlling your people.” 

Burke shook his head wearily. 

Fowler put up no resistance as one of the agents cuffed him. He let himself be led out of the office and into the elevator. As soon as the doors were closed, he elbowed one agent in the stomach and swept the other's legs out from under him. He grabbed the handcuff key, unlocked his cuffs, then hit both agents hard enough to keep them down for a while.

He couldn't run forever. Hell, he probably couldn't run for very long. If Larson didn't track him down, someone else would. He’d probably never even see it coming.

_”I know it's crooked…”_

He knew what his chances were just as Kate had known hers. 

_“But it's the only game in town."_

The elevator opened. He ran.


End file.
